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| I bet Maggie shocked Marge. Maggie is always the dangerous one. |
Homer realizes that his family is pretty dysfunctional early on in this episode, after a plant-mandated picnic at Mr. Burns' estate. With Bart causing mass havoc and Marge partaking in punch she determines is spiked some time later, Homer and his family aren't looking so ideal at the picnic's end. Desperate to fix this, Homer pays $250 (which he had to sacrifice a tiny college fund and the all-important TV to get) to get professional help from Dr. Marvin Monroe. After a failed shock therapy session which set energy conservation movements back decades, Monroe has no choice but to refund the family double, allowing Homer to get a new TV with a little rack to roll it into the dining room on holidays. With that, the family loves him again and all is well.
Quick Review
Part of the reason why shows like The Simpsons or Married with Children were so successful in the early 90s, I bet, was partly because, unlike "family" shows from the 70s or 80s, these shows presented more dysfunctional families. Families whose hijinks were mostly tame save for the special smoking episode or what have you. Unlike in the past, the children were more unruly, the mother wasn't always the perfect role model to look up to. The father was still a character, but now he wasn't the only one with some.
The most memorable part of the episode is the shock therapy Dr. Monroe has the family undergo. Meant to counter emotional hurt with the physical pain shock therapy provides, the Simpsons quickly devolve into a shock fight which causes the town's power to fluctuate. It's a classic scene that has lost some fame with time, but its still a top moment in the series' history. Otherwise, the episode itself had a few good laughs to be had, and you can really start to see the direction the series is going to take in the future to come.
Final Score: 7.5
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